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Not even the bizarre choice of celebrity speakers at yesterday’s Inaugural Opening Ceremony (Jack Black and Steve Carell? Really?) can mar what will go down as the most orgiastic mainstream concert bill we will see in our lifetimes: U2, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige. Vulture has the play-by-play of what you missed on the HBO broadcast. But our intrepid reporter, Jada Yuan, had a clean view of the stage and the First Family–elect in their bulletproof glass cage. Here’s what the cameras missed.

• Secret Service snipers pacing the roof of the Lincoln Memorial, clad entirely in black and carrying binoculars and really big machine guns.

• The seven or so planes that flew directly over the Memorial during the concert, low enough and loud enough to make us panic every time with unpleasant memories.

• The gasps in the crowd when the announcer said Denzel Washington’s name. Said one man near us, “Damn, ALL the famous black people are here.”

• Denzel Washington ending the event’s first celebrity speech with a huge happy wave to Malia and Sasha. He also did a little dance and raised the roof for Mary J. Blige’s rendition of “Lean On Me.”

• Joe Biden sprinting to the stage like a linebacker to give his speech. When he was done, the entire press pit started joking how they’d never heard him talk that short. “You could see it was killing him. He had to tear himself away!” said one reporter.

• Sasha squirming and then having a chat with Michelle before they both disappeared for the duration of John Mellencamp’s “Ain’t That America.” We’re guessing potty break.

• Barack Obama giving Mellencamp an “Oh, man, you killed it!” finger point at the end of his song.

• Queen Latifah peering out from the wings to take a good look at the first family before her speech. Denzel let her take his place leaning against the wall during Tiger Woods’s speech — the one and only time he moved from that spot.